Synthesis of Single‐Chain Sugar Arrays

Abstract

Polymers that toe the line: Well-defined linear polystyrene chains containing precisely positioned hexose moieties (mannose, galactose, and N-acetylglucosamine) were synthesized by a sequence-controlled polymerization approach followed by a series of site-selective modification steps. Such multifunctional single-chain hexose arrays associate specifically with complementary lectins (see picture).